Fingerstyle Exercises - Forward Rolls

Fingerstyle Forward Roll Technique

Position each finger (thumb, index, middle, ring) over a string. The thumb gets the bass or root note.

Pluck each string slowly, in succession, from low to high.

Use the fingertips to pluck; the function of the fingernail is to provide a smooth surface for the string to slide away from.

Repeat slowly and work up speed.

The below exercises will help you develop and improve your fingerstyle technique. These exercises focus on the forward roll which is often used to play four consecutive strings. The roll can take place on four adjacent strings or be spread out across all six. For this technique, be sure to use thumb, index, middle and ring fingers, in that order, very strictly.

Fingerstyle Forward Roll Exercise 1

Fingerstyle Forward Roll Exercise 2

Fingerstyle Forward Roll Exercise 3

Fingerstyle Forward Roll Exercise 4

Key Result

Practice the exercises until you can play them smoothly at 100 BPM.

Apply the forward roll to other chord progressions. If you need some place to start, try the chord progression chart.